Axis Point, Osney Mead

A complex refurbishment project involving a major reconfiguration and alterations to an existing 10 year-old warehouse to create new laboratories and research facilities.

Project

A re-design and refurbishment of an existing warehouse, changing its use to create state-of-the-art academic and commercial research facilities for Oxford University’s Thermo-Fluids Laboratory and Turbomachinery Research Group. The scheme also involved the design and installation of complex mechanical and electrical systems.

Challenges

Internal alterations and strengthening of the existing building was required to accommodate heavy wind tunnels and high pressure test rigs used by the Group for both academic and commercial research into aircraft engine design, notably for Rolls Royce, and other areas of research

The installation of a 300mm diameter, 400psi pipeline required active consultation to agree the specification and level of workmanship to meet client needs and insurance requirements for the finished system

The site had a number of nearby occupied buildings which required careful planning and communication of the works programme with the client and stakeholders to minimise disruption

Solutions

The successful installation of large-scale mechanical and electrical services was achieved by carefully coordinating and managing the works. These were managed by an M&E coordinator who streamlined the process and ensured complex client and insurance requirements were met.

The existing building was significantly strengthened by high-precision internal piling work. This had to be done very carefully to protect existing structures. A steel frame to form a new mezzanine floor was also created using an overhead gantry crane.

“Beard needed to undertake some complex internal piling work on this project which involved cutting circular holes just big enough to hammer the piles in – we were all pleased they did it so effectively and efficiently.”